


Something is Wrong

by accio_insanity



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4005586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accio_insanity/pseuds/accio_insanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something went wrong. Something went very wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“There’s something wrong.”  
Those were the last words he heard before she was wheeled out of sight.  
“There’s something wrong.”  
Everything was quiet. He was pushing, trying to get to her, but he was shoved back by every doctor and nurse that stood between him and the love of his life.  
“Linsday!”  
Maybe that would be the last word she heard; one last hopeful cry of her name.  
And, god, did he hope.  
…  
Nothing made a sound for hours. Geoff spoke to him but nothing reached his ears. His whole body was numb as Gavin rubbed his back. He barely saw Jack arrive with strong coffee and enough chips to feed an army. There was absolutely nothing, just white noise in a sea of blackness.  
Finally, a doctor returned. His stark white coat was all that had registered in Michael’s mind since the last time he’d yelled her name. He rose but found a hand on his chest; Geoff’s firm hand.  
“We’re here, Michael. You might need your family,” he whispered softly.  
“I need Lindsay.”  
Geoff eyes dropped, “I know.”  
The doctor’s face was blank. Doctor… What was his name again? There was once a name there but now Michael couldn’t care less about a stranger’s name. Michael’s eyes met the doctors, still full of hope but doubting everything.  
The doctor took a slow breath, “I’m sorry.”  
“What happened?” The sound that escaped Michael’s mouth was little more than a squeaky whisper.  
“The placenta pushed against her cervix and uterine walls and caused severe haemorrhaging,” for one single moment, the doctor’s voice cracked, “We couldn’t stop the bleeding. I’m sorry,” then with a shaky breath, he composed himself once again.  
“No,” Michael mumbled. “No, that’s not right. We checked up every week. Everything was fine when we came in.”  
The words were directed at nobody but himself as he tried to comprehend what he had just been told. He’d been told that everything was perfect. Lindsay had all of the preparation done. She’d had the cuts, the scans, and all that training. The baby was supposed to be perfectly positioned.  
“I need to see her.”  
…  
He didn’t let anybody join him in that white room. It was just him, the love of his life, the droning noise of the hospital, and the blood that stained the sheet she lay on. He placed a hand on her stomach; it was still warm, the life had not yet escaped her completely. He drew his hand back, now stained with the blood that had deserted her.  
With trembling hands, Michael drew back the sheet that concealed her face. He wasn’t quite ready for the sight laid before him. Somehow he expected terror and anguish in her features but instead she was totally at peace.  
Perhaps that was worse for in this state, Lindsay could have merely been sleeping. All he’d have to do was shake her and she’d wake. Perhaps it was worse still that he convinced himself he could do it. She shook her and her head flopped and lolled but she didn’t stir.  
“Lindsay? Please, this is the worst prank you could ever pull.”  
He shook her gently.  
“Please. Please. I love you.”  
He wished he could cry. He wished he could scream. He wished he could feel anything at all. Even if he could feel pain, it would be enough. But there was nothing. He had no energy.  
“Please,” he chanted, “please, please, please.”  
His eye caught a glimpse of something sharp across the room. He could feel with that.  
He didn’t reach it though. They’d all been watching from outside, waiting for his next move, and making sure it wasn’t a dumb one. They flooded into the room, all five of his workmates and close friends. But all they did was stand in silence around her as she slept.  
Finally, Ryan interjected, “What about the baby?” It was best to get everything over and done with.  
The doctor locked eyes with Michael again. “You have a beautiful baby girl. She’s in the incubator for the time being. We need to be sure that her vitals are functioning well.”  
“A girl,” Michael repeated.  
“Would you like to see her?”  
Of course the answer was yes. The answer was never going to be anything but yes.  
…  
Something small was placed into Michael’s arms. And there she was, a pink writhing baby; nothing short of stunningly beautiful. And in these moments, Michael forgot almost everything. He forgot the sight of his sleeping love, of the blood soaked sheets and the blood on his hands.  
Here, in his arms, was something brand new. Her blue eyes were disproportionate to her face and they blinked rapidly at the stunningly bright lights. Her pale pink skin was soft, delicate and warm to the touch. She had not one hair on her body either.  
She wriggled in his arms, but she didn’t cry, she didn’t make a sound. Michael knew she couldn’t see him yet, he was just a blurry blob in the abyss of her new vision, but he could have sworn that she recognised him already.  
“You’re beautiful,” he stuttered.  
“Did you have a name in mind for her?” The doctor chimed.  
“No, Lind-“ His voice cracked and his throat locked. His lungs wouldn’t work, “Geoff, hold her.”  
Geoff took the baby into his arms as quickly as he could before Michael darted out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Gavin found him a few minutes later sitting outside the room where Lindsay was.  
“They’ve moved her,” Michael screamed, the feeling had come back to him. It rattled through his chest and made him regret ever wishing he could feel again. “Why would they do that?”  
Gavin didn’t have an answer, he just slid down beside Michael without a word.  
Moments passed while Michael hit the floor over and over with his fist while Gavin merely watched.  
“I don’t know how I can do this without her,” he said, punching the ground one final time.  
“You’ve got us, boy. It’s not much, but it’s got to be something.”  
A time passed again where Michael stared at Gavin.  
“I’ve got a kid,” Michael finally said. “I’m gonna fuck that kid up, Gavin.”  
Gavin hesitated; formulation some sort of reassurance into a comprehensive sentence.  
“I promise you won’t. You act all rough and tough but you’ve been ready to raise a kid since I met you, boy.”  
It was a complete lie but Michael didn’t need to know that right now. All things considered, it was Lindsay who would have raised that child to be intelligent, beautiful and full of life. Michael was always just going to be type of father who let his kid run wild, he’d let her stay up until the early morning playing video games. He’d be a great father, so long as Lindsay was there to make sure they got to school and did enough study and made lots of friends.  
There was a tap on his shoulder, Gavin looked up to peer into the pale eyes of a nurse.  
“Sorry, I’m going to have to ask you to move out into the waiting room. The halls are busy and for safety…” her pre-rehearsed spiel trailed off as she started to recognise the two strangely familiar faces. Then, as quietly as she appeared, she left.  
Gavin gazed at Michael, “What are you gonna name her?”  
“Lin-“ His throat blocked again but he pushed through it this time, “Lindsay and I were gonna name it when it was born.”  
“She needs a name, boy.”  
“I don’t know anything.”  
There was a long pause.  
“I need to see her again,” Michael said, stumbling to his feet. “Then maybe I can name her.”  
…  
The walk through the halls back to the nursery took twice as long as it should have done. Michael, for obvious reasons, hadn’t paid attention to where he was running. Gavin, well, as usual Gavin was just lost and the walk back would have been shorter if they’d followed the nurse’s directions instead of taking his ‘brilliant’ shortcut. But somehow it’d given Michael the distraction he needed.  
Ray was waiting for them in the waiting room near the nursery.  
“Geoff told me to come look for you two. But, hey, there was food here and you needed time. Win win.” His words joked but his tone was sombre.  
And then they were in a crowded room.  
The gents stood around the incubator with the same doctor from before. They talked with hushed voices. Michael edged carefully up to where his daughter lay and peered over the top of her crib.  
There she was. Still beautiful. Still pink. But now she was barely moving, just a tiny rise and fall of her chest as she took oxygen.  
She hasn’t been able to breathe for too long on her own until now. We think she’s ready to take her first breaths without assistance now, and with any luck, this will be the last time she’s assisted,” the doctor softly said, “But obviously daddy needed to be here, so we’ve waited.”  
Daddy. Michael had always hated when doctors had referred to his parents and mommy and daddy. Now that it was his turn, though, he wasn’t so repulsed by it. ‘I’m a father,’ he thought, ‘I’m going to have to do good for this little girl.’ All at once he became aware that people were waiting for his reply.  
“Let’s see if she can do it.”  
And she did.  
Her first breaths on her own were gasps now, like her airways couldn’t quite figure out how to bring air into her body. Her chest jolted almost frighteningly, in fact Michael would have been terrified if he had decided to hold her instead of handing her to Geoff. He just didn’t want to drop her. He counted her breaths until they were steady. Ten. Then her chest started to move smoothly once more.  
Michael couldn’t tear his eyes of his daughter, “Why did she start having trouble breathing?”  
“All babies do for a start,” the doctor began, “It’s the first thing they learn to do but sometimes it’s harder to get things working than others. There’s mucus that builds up in the lungs and airways. Most babies just need a few pats on the back but occasionally it takes a little longer to clear or it gets knocked about and blocks things up again. It’s nothing unusual.”  
“Michael,” Geoff said more firmly than he had intended to. “You need to hold her.”  
“I don’t know how,” he replied shyly, but even as the words left his lips, his arms were stretching out for her.  
“Like this,” Ryan was at his side with his arms cradling an imaginary baby, “Just support the head and you’re doing it right.”  
Michael copied Ryan as perfectly as he could and Geoff let the little girl slip into his arms.  
“You’re basically a natural,” the doctor added as a vague sort of praise. “She’s been through a lot already, she’s a fighter,”  
Michael looked down into his daughters glistening eyes and she, once again, seemed to look back at him.  
“Gavin. Boy”  
“Yeah, boy?”  
“I think I know what to call her.”  
He gently stroked his thumb over her tiny fingers.  
“Ruby.”


End file.
